Friday, January 11, 2013

Counting the blessings

Sometimes I find myself stuck in a rut.  Sometimes I find myself seeing a blessing in every little thing.  Today it's a blessing in every little thing sort of day.

Sierra is talking more in complete thoughts and it's so cute.  Even though most of the time "me first" and "I had it first" and many other things she says aren't necessarily what I would prefer to hear, I love hearing her little voice and the sincerity with which she says the words.  She means what she says.  With all of her being and it shows on her face when she speaks and I adore it.  And she is so patient with me when I struggle to understand sometimes the thought that she is trying to convey.  She rarely loses her patience with me as I guess over and over again.  She'll be a great mommy some day.

Kayden has been doing great with his school this week.  He wanted to have an attitude the other day and I cut him off at the pass and despite his initial reluctance to do school he's doing his best at his work anyway and THAT is a HUGE improvement.  His writing has improved by leaps and bounds and I'm so thankful that I decided not to push him in that area.  He's getting there on his own.  He's also found a LOVE of reading the past month or so and I'm so thrilled.

Colton has made huge improvements in learning to read.  I am so thankful that someone somewhere recommended the Easy Peasy all in one website.  The learning to read lessons on there built his confidence and have seemed to have broken through the block he was struggling with most of this school year so far.  Today he read two stories to me in an early reader school book I picked up at the Salvation army.  I'm so proud of him.  He's also initiating reading to Sierra and that's adorable.  He doesn't always read the actual words but I personally think it's an important step to be able to look at the pictures and create your own story anyway so I definitely encourage it.

Sawyer is still Sawyer.  We're working on obeying and that's apparently a really hard thing for him to learn.  He's got his own mind and his own will and his own way of wanting things done.  I try to remember to only argue with him when it's truly important because otherwise he and I will spend the rest of our lives arguing with one another and destroying our relationship.  Sawyer is teaching me patience and reliance on God.  He's the one child where I feel like he doesn't truly receive my instruction.  So I have to trust God to get to his heart without much help from me.  Other than prayer.  Sawyer also teaches me prayer.  He's also been a good source of communication between Jay and I.  It often goes "I just don't know what to do with him anymore!" sob.  "Me neither." sigh.  Sawyer, God definitely gave him to us to teach us something.  He's also very snuggly.  Touch is definitely his love language and unfortunately he doesn't believe in personal space.  Academically he's smart as a whip and just going along with preschool level activities.  He'll be more than ready for kindergarten this coming fall.

And quiet time.  Quiet time is a new favorite blessing of mine.  Sierra only naps sporadically and when she does she doesn't want to go to bed on time that night and then she becomes over tired and it's a vicious cycle.  So I've read numerous places on other mommy blogs about quiet time.  The whole family participates and it lasts for varied amounts of time in different households.  This week we began with 20 minutes.  I have the boys sit on their own beds with books.  I put Sierra in my room with me on the little toddler couch with some board books.  She doesn't quite get the quiet part of quiet time but I think that the intentional rest is really good for everyone.  We do it shortly after lunch.  Probably midweek next week I'll increase it to 30 minutes and eventually my goal is for a full hour.  Today I read my bible during quiet time and I think that would be an excellent habit to get into. 




Polar bear snacks.  We're learning about polar bears and the arctic in school this week and next and these polar bear faces were fun little snacks.  Poor Colton thought that the base was a rice crispy treat but it was in fact a rice cake.  Two VERY different things.  Unmet expectations right there. lol

And so those are a few of the blessings I can count today.

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